7 January 2006 -- The European Commission announced today that results of laboratory tests in Britain confirm that the strain of bird flu that killed at least two people in eastern Turkey this week is the deadly H5N1 type.

Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) meanwhile had to postpone their planned trip today to the same area in Turkey, the scene of the first reported human deaths from bird flu outside eastern Asia.

Turkish Health Minister Recep Akdag said the WHO group is now planning on making the trip to the city of Van on 8 January.

At least 32 people with suspected cases of bird flu are in hospitals in the Van region.

Turkish and Iranian authorities are disinfecting vehicles crossing their common border to prevent any further spread of the disease.